Pacific Tomcod

Microgadus proximus

Pacific Tomcod

Microgadus proximus

Other Common Names
Taaqatak

Sandy Coast

Other Common Names

Taaqatak

At the Aquarium

Sandy Coast

Appearance

Pacific tomcod are olive green to brown above and a creamy white on their underside. They have a small barbel on their chin that is half the diameter of the eye. They weigh up to 0.8 lbs.

Habitat

Tend to school near soft bottoms of mud, silt, or fine sand. Surfzone to depths of 900’ though they may enter brackish waters.

Diet

Shrimps, copepods, amphipods, isopods, gastropods, mussels, and larval fishes

Life History

Pacific tomcod spawn in winter and spring off of Oregon. A female lays 1,200 eggs. Planktonic larvae drift in coastal waters. After the pelagic phase, at about 1 inches long, juveniles move to shallow nearshore waters or estuaries. They will then move to deeper waters in the fall or winter of their first year. They reach lengths of 15 inches; their life span is not known.

IUCN Status

Not Evaluated

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

These fish are important to marine webs. They have a variety of predators including albacore tuna, lingcod, white sturgeon, harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and common murres.

Alaska to central California

You can try to catch this fish. Pacific tomcod is esteemed as a food fish by some anglers but it does not support a large commercial fishery.

Pacific tomcod are in the family of true cods. The distinguishing features of a true cod are: 3 dorsal fins, 2 anal fins, and a single barbel at the end of the chin.

Citations & Other Resources

Alaska FisheriesCenter. inchesLarval development of Pacific tomcod, Microgadus proximus, in the northeast Pacific Ocean with comparative notes on larvae of walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, and Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus (Gadidae).inches Fishery Bulletin 78.4 (1981). Love, Milton S. Certainly more than you want to know about the fishes of the Pacific Coast: a postmodern experience. Really Big Press: Santa Barbara. 2011. 649 pp. ISBN 978-0-9628725-6-3. Monaco, Mark E., and Robert Laurence Emmett. Distribution and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in West Coast Estuaries: Species life history summaries. Vol. 2. US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, 1990. NOAA Guide Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website

Pacific Tomcod

Pacific Tomcod

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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